Walt Disney unveils KeyChest technology

The Walt Disney yesterday unveiled a technology called KeyChest to enable consumers to buy films or television shows from various distributors, store them on remote servers, and play them on multiple platforms ranging from TVs to computers and phones.

Disney said it plans to roll-out KeyChest for both the US and the international market, and that it will soon announce partners who will participate in the programme.

"Discussions are going to step up dramatically at the Consumer Electronics Show," said a Disney spokesman, referring to the upcoming technology conference in Las Vegas.

Disney said negotiations with content distributors, cable companies and telecommunications services have been ongoing for several months.

Disney hopes the technology will be deployed before the end of 2010.

The company also said a third-party company will operate KeyChest, and that it expects other studios to make their content available through the authenticating technology Disney has developed.

Company officials said the goal of KeyChest is to make it easy for for viewers to see a movie accessed from various outlets and to address the issue of compatibility in maneuvering content.

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